Stratocaster Q&A, 2011

It has been almost two years
since my first Stratocaster
Q&A column (“Stratocaster
Modding Q&A,” May 2009
PG). Since then, I’ve gotten
numerous emails concerning
Strat mods, so it’s high time
for a sequel. This subject consistently
generates interest and
feedback, and I’m happy for
that. Somehow, the Strat seems
to invite guitarists to pick up a
soldering iron and start exploring
simple mods, and that’s my
main goal for this column. So
here’s a selection of Strat-related
questions from my inbox.

I want to replace one of my
Strat’s pots with a push/pull
unit for the “seven-sound” mod.
For this project, I need a pot
with a SPST switch, but I can
only find push/pull pots with a
DPDT switch. What can I do?

You’re right. To do the very
easy seven-sound mod—which
adds a switching device that
can activate the neck pickup—
you only need a SPST switch.
In layman’s terms, that’s a
simple on/off switch with only
two lugs, and those are hard to
find on a push/pull or push/
push assembly. CTS makes several,
but they’re only available
in a few values, none of which
are suitable for a Strat’s passive
pickups. Typical push/pull pots
are equipped with a DPDT
(aka 2PDT) switch, which provides
more lugs than you need
for this mod.

But this isn’t a problem—
simply leave the unused lugs
alone. In this case, you use two
of the six lugs, and leave four
unconnected. This won’t affect
your tone or impact the mod.
We’re going to cover switching
basics in one of the next
columns, so stay tuned. In the
meantime, a good guideline
is that it’s better to have extra
options and not need them
than vice versa. For example,
you can perform the seven-sound
mod with a DPDT
switch, but you can’t split a
4-conductor humbucker with
a SPST or SPDT switch. That
requires a minimum of DPDT
or higher.

I’ve heard that on early Strats,
Fender didn’t use springs to
mount the Strat pickups in the
pickguard, but rather small pieces
of latex tubing. If this is true,
is there a difference in tone?

Yes, this is true. On ’50s and
’60s Strats, Fender inserted
small pieces of yellowish-brown
latex tubing between the pickups
and the pickguard, and you
adjusted pickup height by compressing
or relaxing the tubing.
Latex tubing has an advantage.
Being a non-magnetic material,
it can help reduce feedback—
especially when you play very
loud. If you have problems with
feedback, try replacing your
metal springs with the old-school
tubing. It might help.

But there are also some downsides
to the latex tubing. It’s
tricky to slide it over the pickup
screws, and latex starts to degenerate
over the years. If you have
latex tubing that looks whitish
or milky, it’s time to replace it.
If you don’t, it will eventually
crumble leaving you with a loose
pickup—in the middle of a crucial
solo, of course.

Because they react with a
pickup’s magnetic field, metal
springs can encourage feedback,
but they last forever and
are easy to install. As for tone,
I can’t verify that Strats with
latex tubing sound fatter than
those with springs, but the
springs add a kind of reverb
sound to the tone, which I like
a lot. It’s something to experiment
with.

I want a cross between a
Telecaster and a Stratocaster.
What do you recommend?

This seems to be a common
desire and many companies
are offering Tele-style instruments
with three pickups—like
a Strat. Even James Burton
is playing a triple-pickup
Telecaster to put some Strat-like
sounds at his fingertips.
That’s one way to mix features
from these two guitars.
Another would be to wire up a
hardtail Strat with a Telecaster
bridge pickup. Because of the
Strat’s contoured body, this is
the more comfortable choice.
Several companies offer authentically
twangy Tele-style bridge
pickups sized to fit a Strat pickguard,
and this is a good option
because it doesn’t require any
body routing.

I’ve heard that Strat pickups
with bevelled magnets—like
on Rory Gallagher’s Strat—
sound better than the modern
flat magnets. Is this true?

These pickups sound different
because their bevelled edges
influence the magnetic field—a
lot. The physics are complex,
but in practical terms, the
pickups sound fatter with more
overtones and less shrill highs,
though I don’t think Fender did
this in the old days to intentionally
enhance tone. Rather,
it was an accidental stroke of
genius. The alnico material
used for the magnets was new
and very expensive at that
time—and it was porous! I’ll
bet a lot of magnets crumbled
while being hammered into
the pickup. So to minimize the
risk of destroying the magnets
during the installation process,
Fender simply bevelled them
on the hammering surface.
Depending on which employee
was at the sanding machine, the
edges are more or less bevelled
from pickup to pickup. That’s
one reason vintage Strats sound
so different from one another.

What’s your favorite Strat?

I own a whole bunch of
Strats—new, old, and vintage
models—as well as Strat-style
guitars from other companies.
But to answer the desert island
question: I think it’s my Fiesta
Red MIJ ’50s Reissue Strat
from 1992, modded with an
EC-style blocked tremolo, the
seven-sound mod, and a set of
LeoSounds Irish Tour pickups.
It’s not a very beautiful or
valuable Strat, but this guitar
plays well and sounds marvellous.
And it also has a nostalgic
element, which is why it’s
my favorite.

What is your favorite Strat mod?

That’s easy. The seven-sound
mod—which expands the
standard five sounds by adding
the bridge-plus-neck combination
and all three pickups in
parallel—plus playing with the
pickup heights. Pickup height
adjustment is the most effective
and cheapest Stratocaster
modification, and that’s what
we’ll discuss next month. Many
weak-sounding Strats will come
to life when you adjust their
pickups correctly, and there are
a lot of tonal shades to discover
in the process. See you then!

Dirk Wacker lives in
Germany and is fascinated
by anything related to old
Fender guitars and amps.
He plays country, rockabilly,
and surf music in two
bands, works regularly as a
session musician for a local studio, and writes
for several guitar mags. He’s also a hardcore
guitar and amp DIY-er who runs an extensive
website—singlecoil.com—on the subject.

Dirk Wacker lives in Germany and has been a guitar addict since age 5. He’s also a hardcore DIY-er for guitars, amps, and stompboxes and runs a website on the subject (singlecoil.com). When not working at his guitar workbench, he plays country, rockabilly, surf, and flamenco. Contact him at info@singlecoil.com.

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